Latest Dell XPS 12 switches to tablet design, InfinityEdge display.

It looks like the Lenovo Miix 700 is going to get some strong competition in the 12-inch 2-in-1 space because details are emerging of a new Dell XPS 12 tablet with docking keyboard, USB-C and an edge-to-edge display.

Giga.de have followed up their Venue 8 Pro leak with a slide of information on a new Dell XPS 12 showing that Dell have moved on from the carousel design to a docking tablet set-up. Brief information shows a 4K display which may, or may not, excite you. The same goes for the edge-edge Infinity display which removes the oft-important frame.

The original Dell XPS 12

The 4K internal display means this is going to be a Core-based unit and the size points towards Core M, probably the latest version based on Skylake 6th-gen Core architecture. [Atom X5 and X7 don’t yet support 4K internal displays but might support 4K on a future SKU.] The display is said to cover 100% Adobe RGB color space, have a 1200:1 contrast and a 400-nits brightness. Let’s hope there’s a big enough battery inside to drive all that.

A Wacom digitizer layer and pen is available and as with the new Dell Venue 8 Pro and new Venue 10 Pro, there will be a USB-C USB 3.1 port and docking station accessory. There’s even a Thunderbolt 3 connector. [Who’s using these on consumer-level PCs I ask myself? Wouldn’t WiGig be a better option?]

The new Dell XPS 12 is said to be launching in October but there’s no pricing available or information on alternative specifications or an entry-level model. As soon as we can confirm official images and specs we’ll get this in the 2-in-1 database.

Thoughts: Weight, battery life and keyboard quality need to be checked carefully because Lenovo have already presented an interesting option in the Miix 700. A 4K infinity display with 100% RGB might not be the right ‘feature’ for the target market but there’s sure to be careful comparison with the iPad Pro for creative customers. The XPS 12 might be able to run full versions of Photoshop and other pro-level packages but will it have the processing power? Dell would have had a tough design decision to make: Fanless Core M or U-series Core with a fan?